bialys

Ive always liked bread that comes with a good history behind it, so when my friend Posy turned up at Chez Bullhog one rainy Saturday with a little book under her arm and a bright gleam in her eye, I perked up straight away. Bialys, she said, excitedly poking at the book. Forget the bagels. Try these.

I spent the next few hours devouring Mimi Sheratons lovely book (The Bialy Eaters: the story of a Bread and a Lost World), by turns saddened by the loss of a bread culture and gladdened by those bakers who remember and pay homage to its memory. Theres so much history wrapped up in these little loaves that its easy to overlook the obvious  these things taste fabulous!

So here you go: my take on a historical bialy recipe. Ive treated the bialy more like a small pizza and less like an unboiled bagel, but the topping is very much like the one provided in the book  thanks, Ms. Sheraton. And Ive added one further twist: these bialys are woodfired.

Preparation

Mix all dough ingredients in large bread bowl. Turn out and knead 10 minutes. Return to bowl, cover and let rise for 3 hours at room temperature. Punch down and let rise 1½ to 2 hours until doubled in volume.

Make onion topping:Finely chop sweet onion; mix with salt and bread crumbs in a small bowl. Cover and let sit 4 hours. Form the bialys:Turn dough out onto work surface, forming a snake by turning the long edge in on itself to stretch the skin. Cut dough into short rounds of 3 ounces each. Tuck sides of each baby bialy under and stretch the tops into mounds.Arrange bialys on two floured wooden peels or lightly oiled cookie sheets, cover loosely with a cloth and let sit for 30 minutes.

Top the bialys:Using your thumb or the bottom of a small glass, depress the middle only of each bialy until it is about 1/8 inch thick. Make sure before you continue that they 'slip'. Brush the top of each bialy with a thin coating of eggwhite wash. Scoop a teaspoon of onion mixture into the middle depression, smear some up the inner sides and sprinkle a little over the tops. Finish each bialy with ½ teaspoon of poppy seeds.

Baking in a woodfired oven:Your fire should be at least 1½ hours old. Put a 3 inch thick log and a handful of kindling on the fire about 20 minutes before the bialys are ready, and push fire to the back. Brush the floor clean.Bake five bialys at a time in a semicircle around the coals. Turn bialys once after 4 minutes. They will bake in about 8 minutes total.

Baking in a conventional oven:Place a pizza stone or quarry tiles on the center rack. Preheat oven to 400º for a half hour. Bake 5 bialys at a time, either directly on the stone or in the cookie sheet on the stone. The bialys will be ready in 10 to 12 minutes, depending on your oven.

my notes

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